Category: Detroit Pistons Blog

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Pistons sign Kay Felder and Reggie Hearn, waive Luis Montero

The Detroit Pistons today signed guards Kay Felder and Reggie Hearn to two-way contracts.

And in a related move, the club requested waivers on guard Luis Montero.

Felder, 5-9, 176, played 14 games with the Chicago Bulls this season and averaged 3.9 points, 1.4 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game. In 56 career NBA games with the Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, Felder has averaged 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

A Detroit native, Felder played collegiately at Oakland University for three seasons and averaged 17.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 101 games. The former Pershing High School product earned NCAA All-America honors from The Associated Press during his junior season at Oakland (2015-16) where he averaged 24.4 points, and NCAA-leading 9.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 35 games.

Hearn, 6-5, 210, has played in 14 games (10 starts) with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA G League this season and averaged 14.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30.7 minutes per game. The former Northwestern University product has played in 175 NBA G League games with the Idaho Stampede, Westchester Knicks and Bighorns averaging 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 26.7 minutes per game.

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have two Two-Way players on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. Two-Way players for the Pistons will provide services primarily for the Grand Rapids Drive, the team’s G League affiliate, but can spend up to 45 days with the Pistons, not including any time prior to the start of the Drive’s training camp and at the conclusion of their season.

Pistons sign Dwight Buycks to standard contract

The Detroit Pistons signed Dwight Buycks to a multi-year contract today. He had already been under contract as a two-way player, on a deal signed September 17, 2017.

Two-way contract players spend the majority of the season in the G League. Signing a standard season contract means Buycks, a 6-3, 190-pound guard, is now a regular member of the Bucks.

Since an ankle injury sidelining Reggie Jackson on December 26, Buycks has entered the regular rotation and averaged 11.7 points, 3.2 assists and 19.5 minutes while shooting 50.9% from the field and 46.2% from three-point range.

He also spent time with the Detroit Pistons G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, averaging 22.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 35.6 minutes in 10 games.

Prior to joining Detroit, Buycks averaged 25-plus points in each of the last two seasons with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association. He holds NBA career averages of 5.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 28 games with the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons.

Pistons guard Reggie Jackson sprains ankle

The Pistons are 19-14 this season, which is the 4th best winning percentage in the Eastern conference. They’ve stumbled lately, however. The squad was putting up more wins earlier in the season. Although they’ve won two in a row, they’ve secured victories in just five of their last 10. And now guard Reggie Jackson is hurt. Results on his injury should be known today. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Detroit Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson will undergo an MRI Wednesday to determine the severity of the sprained right ankle he suffered during Tuesday’s 107-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Little Caesars Arena.

Jackson was injured with 5:25 to play in the third quarter, when he jumped to make a pass and landed on Myles Turner’s foot, twisting the ankle.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game that X-rays came back negative.

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Pistons, Avery Bradley in mini-slump

The Pistons are 14-9, which is one of the best records in the league, but they’re currently on a 3-game losing streak. Also happening lately is, shooting guard Avery Bradley has been missing lots of shots. For more, here’s the Detroit News:

Avery Bradley chased Tony Parker around. He stalked Patty Mills’ dribble. He tried to shoot the gaps on passing lanes and get a steal on a drive to the basket.

It was the least he could do in Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, because he wasn’t able to get much done on the offensive end. Bradley managed three points, on just 1-of-9 shooting, in the Pistons’ 96-93 loss.

There wasn’t much different about Bradley’s approach; the shots just weren’t falling. He’s mired in a mini-slump over the past three games, notching just 7.3 points and hitting just 27 percent on field goals (9-of-33) and 1-of-13 on 3-pointers.

That’s a significant drop from his previous 12 games, when he posted 18.3 points, hitting 47-percent from the field and from beyond the arc.

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Notes on Detroit Pistons success this season

Detroit (14-6) is off to its best 20-game start since the 2007-08 season. Here are some notes about the current No. 2 team in the Eastern Conference entering Friday’s game against Washington:

The Pistons rank seventh in the NBA in offensive rating after finishing 25th last season.

Leading scorer Tobias Harris (19.1 ppg) is averaging 2.9 three-pointers per game – more than double his career high – and shooting 46.7 percent from beyond the arc, also well above his career high. He was a career 33.2 percent three-point shooter when the season began.

Behind Harris and guards Avery Bradley, Langston Galloway and Reggie Jackson, the Pistons are third in the NBA in three-point field goal accuracy at 39.1 percent. Last season, they ranked 28th at 33.0 percent.

Detroit is also making nearly four more three-pointers per game than last season, improving to ninth (11.4) from 27th (7.7) in that category.

NBA rebounding leader Andre Drummond (14.3 ppg, 15.2 rpg) is shooting 63.0 percent from the free throw line. He entered the season with a career mark of 38.1 percent.

Stan Van Gundy needs two wins to become the sixth active head coach with 500 career victories.

— NBA Newsletter

Pontiac Silverdome is being demolished

Any NBA or Detroit Pistons fans who have been around for a while know the Pontiac Silverdome. The Pistons called the Silverdome home from the late 1970’s through the late 1980’s. Well, that venue will soon be just a memory. Here’s the Detroit News reporting:

Plans are set for the public viewing and farewell for the demolition of the Pontiac Silverdome, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday.

The implosion at 8:30 a.m. will be the first phase in a yearlong demolition of the 400,000-square-foot former home of the Detroit Lions.

There will be a public parking and viewing area for the demolition at the Oakland County Water Resource Commission site at 155 N. Opdyke. Vehicles must be parked by 8:15 a.m.

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Ben Gordon reportedly arrested in Los Angeles

Former NBA player Ben Gordon has been going through some things in 2017. There have been several incidents this year. Here’s TMZ Sports reporting the latest:

Ben Gordon reportedly arrested in Los Angeles

Ex-NBA player Ben Gordon was arrested in L.A. Monday afternoon — after allegedly roughing up a guy at an apartment building … and leaving with several thousand dollars of his money, TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us … the 34-year-old went to the apartment complex where he used to live in an effort to get his security deposit back. We’re told there was a dispute about the money and Gordon allegedly put hands on the guy and threatened him.

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Cavs beat Pistons for 5th straight win

The Cavs got off to a rocky start this season. Not a big surprise, with new point guard Isaiah Thomas out, lots of new players, and many lineup changes. But lately they’re winning and looking proper and Monday won their 5th game in a row. Here’s Michigan Live reporting:

The hot-shooting Cavs basically ran the Pistons out of their own building in the first half Monday, racing out to a 27-point lead, and kept pouring it on the second half, on the way to a 116-88 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

The Pistons (11-6) had their six-game home winning streak snapped.

Cleveland didn’t even need a prolific output from LeBron James. He did his damage early and finished with 18 points and nine assists in 27 minutes. Kevin Love collected 19 points and 11 rebounds. Jae Crowder scored 18 points.

The Cavaliers shot 52.5 percent from the floor (42-of-50), including 48.5 percent from 3-point range (16-of-33).

These aren’t your early-season Cavaliers, that started 5-7.

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Motion offense working well for Pistons

The Pistons have been one of the league’s early-season surprise success stories. They’re playing very solid basketball and have been a team to watch in the East. Here’s Michigan Live reporting on changes their offense has undergone:

Throughout his extensive head coaching career that includes more than 800 NBA games, Stan Van Gundy was obsessed with the pick-and-roll offense. He estimates he’s utilized it 90 percent of the time.

Getting out of his comfort zone wasn’t easy. But changes were needed following the Detroit Pistons’ disappointing 2016-17 season.

So, Van Gundy switched to a motion offense, where center Andre Drummond is the hub, and everyone is involved. The early results have been promising. The Pistons are 7-3 heading into Wednesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit).

“I think it is the best way for us to play and it’s just going to take time to get better at it and being committed to it,” Van Gundy said. “I think everybody likes the fact that everybody is involved. There’s nobody standing around. I think we got unselfish people. I think our guys are not guys who need shots, but I think it’s natural that everybody wants to feel like they’re involved in the game and their hands get on the ball.

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Pistons off to great start this season

The Pistons are off to a great start. Will it last? Too soon to tell. Their offense has been pretty good; their defense average. At the very least, Detroit looks like they should compete to make the playoffs. That’s a huge step in the right direction. They’re a team to watch these next few weeks as we determine just how real they are. For more, here’s Michigan Live reporting:

Playing on back-to-back nights against a reeling team on Saturday, the Detroit Pistons made too many mistakes defensively, went cold from the floor in the first half and let the Sacramento Kings hang around too long.

It was a game last season’s Pistons might have lost.

But this year’s Pistons have a kind of swagger about them, a renewed confidence and much resolve. It wasn’t their best game, but they did what they were supposed to do, grinding out a 108-99 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

At 7-3, this is the Pistons’ best 10-game start since 2008-09. They are 3-0 on the second night of back-to-backs (they were 3-14 last season) and have won the first two games of a five-game homestand.

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